LANZAROTE: Camel Safari

Camel Safari through part of the Volcanic Park in Lanzarote where the camels are led in 'crocodile'-style with all their riders seated in chairs strapped across their backs. However, they do though have a rather strange and ungainly walk, as they move the front and back leg on the same side of their body at the same time!

The unique lava-scape in Volcano Park at Timanfaya is Lanzarote´s most popular tourist attraction and is host to a sea of colourful dormant volcanoes and spent cones. Countless comparisons to a lunar landscape have already been made, although in reality the raw landscapes of Timanfaya allow visitors to imagine what the earth might have looked like when it was first formed.

Timanfaya Mountains of Fire are a true natural wonder; the land that is now buried beneath twisted swirls of black solidified lava and majestic multi-coloured volcanic cones was once home to twelve villages and the most fertile farming on the island. Grain was cultivated here back in the 17th and 18th centuries, earning Lanzarote the title of the breadbasket of the Canaries. Now however, Timanfaya is Lanzarote's most popular tourist attraction, with its awesome raw beauty as well as those camel safaris, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors every year.

The main eruption that decimated this region was one of the longest periods of volcanic activity ever recorded, lasting some six years from 1730. Records of the event read like a terrifying science fiction film. ''The ground moved like the sea, the crust breaking into waves, whilst massive volcanic cones hundreds of metres high rose up suddenly from the depths of the earth.''

The resulting devastation, which at the time fuelled poverty and migration, has been pretty much preserved intact. In geological terms, where changes to the earth can be traced over millions of years, the eruptions happened yesterday. Lanzarote's low rainfall has also created very little erosion, so visitors are able to enjoy this truly unique landscape in its pristine form.

Timanfaya is often likened to the moon, implying a bleak, lifeless monochrome landscape. Indeed, NASA has used pictures of the park to brief astronauts prior to lunar missions. But that description fails to do justice to the incredible colours of the volcanoes themselves — reds, purples and greens — which have been created by the ores and pigments ejected by the eruptions then settling on the surfaces of these exhausted peaks.

[Lanzarote holiday trip - Sep.2009].

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• roddymck
• Lanzarote
• camel
• safari
• Timanfaya
• Volcanic
• Park
• OneTrueMedia

[roddymck]

The songs are by Jonathon Richmond.

[AnubisIsWatching]

Nice video. Does anyone knows the name of the song?